Way Too Early 2019 Mr. Basketball Preview
2019 is one of the deepest classes of basketball talent that we’ve seen in recent years. There are multiple high major D1 players in the class, which is rare for our state. The competition to be named Mr. Basketball is serious and we could have one of the tightest races we’ve seen. Here’s a preview of the race for 2019 Mr. Basketball as I see it currently. We will certainly update this over the next year as we get closer and closer to the naming of 2019 Kentucky Mr. Basketball.
The Early Favorite:
Michael Moreno, Scott County – Moreno has the benefit of what 2017 Mr. Basketball Taveion Hollingsworth did. Meaning that many voters (aka High School Coaches) saw Michael perform at a high level in the state tournament this March. Mike is well on his way to perhaps the most impressive high school career in the storied history of Scott County basketball and could see it end as Mr. Basketball.
Second Favorite:
Dontaie Allen, Pendleton County – Allen has all the momentum right now as he is currently racking up high major offers every other day. Allen has a chance to end his career as the second leading scorer in state history behind Kelly Coleman. Dontaie is already at over 2,600 points and 1,000 career rebounds and those numbers will only continue to rise. The real factor here is if John Calipari ends up offering Dontaie. If that happens, you should expect the overwhelming popularity of “Kentucky boy being recruited by Calipari” to help push Allen to the title of Mr. Basketball.
Third Favorite:
KyKy Tandy, Unviersity Heights – Tandy is a unique talent in Kentucky basketball. He’s got a top 100 ranking and continues to get scholarship offers from every major Power 5 conference. But I don’t see Tandy winning a popularity contest over anyone. And, if the rumors are true, Tandy may not complete his senior season in the state which would eliminate him from the running automatically.
Others in the Running:
David Johnson, Trinity – Johnson is a no doubt high major player with the scholarship offers to back it up. David is not going to put up the type of individual stats that will stack up against Moreno, Allen and Tandy. David is likely to end up as the highest ranked player in the state by all the national ranking services but he’s not likely to take home the 2019 Mr Basketball award.
Kyle Rode, Lexington Christian – Rode, like Johnson, would be the favorite to win the award almost any other year in Kentucky. But Kyle is unlikely to even beat out Moreno to be the best player in the 11th region. If there were an MVP award, Rode and Allen would likely tie because neither of their teams would be very good if you removed them from the roster. But that’s not the case and Kyle is likely to find himself watching someone else hoist the Mr. Basketball trophy next March.
Isaiah Cozart, Madison Central – Cozart impacts the game with his defense as much as anything and will end his career as the all time blocks leader in Kentucky history and likely a 1,000 point scorer. But he’s not likely to rack up the votes to win the award and will have to beat out Rode and Moreno just to get to the ceremony.
The Field:
There are some other names who are likely to make their way to the ceremony or have their names mentioned at least but none of the following are likely to be a serious contender for the trophy: Dieonte Miles (Walton-Verona), TreVon Smith (Taylor County), JJ Kalakon (Waggener), Jordan Graham (George Rogers Clark), Connor Guthrie (Mayfield) Rodriguez Thomas (Paducah Tilghman)